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Job
Seeker Resources
Need some professional
advice? Here are 20 fact-filled articles to help you compete in today's
fierce employment market:
Resumes
Ten Keys to a Dynamite Resume
Resume Design Tips and Template
A
Stronger Resume To Increase Your Odds
Choosing
a Resume Format: Summary vs. Chronological
Beefing
Up an Anemic Resume
The
Dangers of Resume Overkill
Interviewing
The
Secret to Interview Success
Don't
Talk Yourself Out of a Job
How
to Answer Interview Questions
What
to Ask the Interviewer
Four
Classic
Interview
Questions—and
How to Prepare for Them
Discussing
the Subject of Money
Career
Decisions
How
to Evaluate a Job Offer
What
Does the New Job Really Pay?
Salary
Negotiation Techniques
Intelligent
Job-Changing
Strategy
Career
Strategy: It Pays to Diversify
Transition
The
Proper Way to Resign
How
to Leave a Job Gracefully
Resignation
or Retaliation?
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Career
Strategy: It Pays to Diversify
By
Bill Radin
Would you
dump your life savings—every
single dollar—into
a single stock? Probably not; it’s far too risky to put all your eggs
in one investment basket.
And yet,
you’d be surprised how many people manage their careers with a single-stock
mindset. They toil away, year after year, investing their talents in a narrow
field of interest.
Until
recently, this approach made a lot of sense. Conventional wisdom dictates that
if you do one thing really well, you’ll never be out of a job.
But times
have changed, and so have strategies. While it’s still true that a solid
career is built on a foundation of position-specific expertise, it’s become
increasingly important to maintain a balanced portfolio.
When
employers look for talent, they typically settle for people with the proficiency
to perform certain tasks. But what they really want—especially
in today’s hyper-competitive market—is an adaptable breed of cat, whose
broad-based set of skills crosses over into a variety of disciplines.
Want
proof? Poke your head into any meeting room in which star performers are
present. You’re likely to hear a sales manager exploring the potential of XML
technology; or an engineer debating the virtues of a strategic alliance; or a
CFO pondering the benefits of a co-branding opportunity.
In other
words, as organizations flatten, more is expected from each individual
contributor. Which means that versatility is not only fashionable, it’s become
a key ingredient in modern-day career progression.
Now, I’m not suggesting you spread yourself so thin as to master nothing at all.
But in order to reach top-percentile status in today’s rugged job market,
you’ll need an expanded arsenal of skills to deploy.
To round
out your resume, look for areas of weakness (or “blind spots”), and try to
develop them into strengths. For example, if you’re a design engineer and you
want to improve your company’s product or advance its market position, here
are some issues to consider:
By
gaining knowledge in areas that were formerly considered the domain of
“somebody else,” you’ll increase your overall market value. The more you
can offer a multiple spectrum of knowledge—rather
than a single color of skill—the
less likely you’ll be to paint yourself into a corner.
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